Lu Siwei: Report on My Visit to the Case-Filing Center to Demand the Filing of Lawsuits Against the Chengdu Municipal Government and Sichuan Provincial Government

I have filed a total of three administrative cases against the Chengdu Municipal Government and the Sichuan Provincial Government. I first attempted to file them by mail, but the Chengdu Intermediate Court returned all the materials to me exactly as they were. Today (June 24, 2026), I went to the court in person again to demand that the cases be filed. At the security checkpoint, I asked to bring drinking water inside, but Bailiff 510222 grabbed my water bottle very violently and brazenly said he hoped I would file a complaint against him. He said that only when someone complained about him could he feel a sense of accomplishment at work.

After entering the case-filing center, two paper dolls looked at my materials and whispered to each other. They then went into the second courtroom to seek instructions and came out to tell me that my cases did not fall within the court's scope of jurisdiction. I asked them to issue a ruling refusing to file the cases, but the staff member in Figure Five was cold and ignored me. I later went to the petitioning center to file complaints about the refusal to file the cases and the illegal security check, demanding that the matter be handled as soon as possible. We shall wait and see what happens next.

President Yang Cheng of the Chengdu Intermediate Court, are you going to lead a rogue court or a court of judicial justice? I hope you will act prudently and not bring trouble upon yourself.

The Chengdu Public Security Bureau, the Chengdu Municipal Government, and the Sichuan Provincial Government have gone further and further down the road of illegality. Their responsible officials—Director Hu Guomin, Mayor Chen Shuping, and Governor Shi Xiaolin—I hope you will immediately correct your mistakes. Otherwise, if something serious happens, you will bear full responsibility.

Resume of lawyer Lu Siwei: Born on January 9, 1973, he is a well-known human rights lawyer in Sichuan Province. He handled the Chengdu case involving a banquet commemorating “June 4, 1989,” and was the defense lawyer for Zhang Junyong, one of Chengdu's “Four Gentlemen.” He previously represented the “12 Hong Kong residents smuggling case,” as well as the “inciting subversion of state power” cases involving Yu Wensheng, Wang Zang, Qin Yongpei, and Chen Jiahong.

In 2017, lawyer Lu Siwei initiated a citizens' joint petition calling on the National People's Congress to establish a special investigative committee to conduct an independent investigation into whether torture, such as forced medication, had occurred in the series of “709” cases. The members of the investigative committee should include lawyers and citizen representatives, and the conclusions of the investigation should be made public. After the Xiamen gathering case took place, lawyer Lu Siwei was summoned and threatened and was prohibited from leaving the country.

On April 24, 2020, lawyer Lu Siwei, who had represented Guangxi lawyer Chen Jiahong in the “inciting subversion of state power” case, was subjected to pressure and disciplinary action by Sichuan judicial authorities and the lawyers' association. In June 2020, lawyer Yu Wensheng was convicted of inciting subversion of state power and sentenced to four years in prison by the Xuzhou Intermediate Court. Lawyer Lu Siwei participated in the defense as counsel in the second instance.

In August 2020, 12 Hong Kong social activists were detained by Shenzhen police at the Yantian Detention Center. Lawyer Lu Siwei visited the 12 detained Hong Kong people and provided them with legal assistance. On November 3, 2020, the Yangqing District Justice Bureau of Chengdu inspected the case materials for all the cases represented by lawyer Lu Siwei. On January 4, 2021, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Justice issued lawyer Lu Siwei a notice informing him of the hearing rights of a party to an administrative penalty case, preparing to revoke his lawyer's practicing certificate. Lu Siwei's lawyer's license was subsequently revoked.

On the morning of July 28, 2023, Mr. Lu Siwei was arrested by Laotian police as he was preparing to board a train bound for Thailand. Lu Siwei had planned to take a flight from Thailand to the United States to reunite with his family. In September 2023, the Laotian government, together with 50 other Chinese nationals, returned Lu Siwei to China in two vehicles. Lu Siwei was subsequently detained by the Chinese Communist Party authorities at the Xindu Detention Center in Chengdu, Sichuan. On October 28, 2023, lawyer Lu Siwei was released on bail pending trial.

On July 19, 2024, Lu Siwei was summoned to the Baohe Police Station, where he gave a statement for approximately three hours. He was subsequently informed that his case would be transferred by the Chenghua District Public Security Bureau to the Chenghua District Procuratorate for review and prosecution. On October 10, 2024, he was arrested again and detained at the Chengdu Detention Center. On April 18, 2025, the Chenghua Court held the scheduled trial of Lu Siwei's case and sentenced him in court to 11 months in prison and a fine of 10,000 yuan. The period of detention in Laos was not credited toward his sentence, which ran until August 5, 2025.